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Published: January 8th 2007
Christmas Eve
Kim, Livvy, Jess and I on Christmas Eve in Koh LantaSo I'm finnally finishing off my 2 week vacation from school. I've now seen the south and i love Thailand even more.
Kim and I started off our vacation by celebrating Christmas in Ko Lanta which is right near Krabi. It took us 2 busses and one boat (approx 20 hours) to make it. But believe me.. it was well worth it. We met up with our friends Jessica and Livvy on the first day had Christmas there and stayed until the 26th (the anniversary of the tsunami).
After Ko Lanta we moved over to the other coast to see Koh Phangan. Here, there were way more gappers. There were about 18 of us all having a really good time catching up since we first met in Bangkok. We went to the half moon party as well- which was definatly an experience in itself.
After all of that we decided to go to Bangkok for new years... why i'm not too sure... In the midst of celebrating before the countdown we hear rumours that bombs have been set off throughout Bangkok including one which happened to be approximatly a block from where we were. Although I'm sure this was spread all
over the news quickly we didn't understand the seriousness of it (two people died, many injured). We decided to stay where we were until the countdown was over then we headed back to our guesthouse. The next morning many of the thais acted completley normal and not much 'destruction' was to be seen besides a lot of people in cell phones and a bit of an eerie, empty feeling on Khao San Road.
Needless to say... we got out of Bangkok pretty quick.
We wanted to spend our last few days in Ko Samet- an island close to Bangkok but far enough away from Bangkok. Since Ko Samet is a national park you have to pay 200 Baht if your a tourist or 20 Baht if your thai just to get on the island... not exactly something we appreciate. On top of that since it was peak season it was changed to 400B or 40B. Well, we worked our magic. We tried to explain that we were working in thailand (not good when your forgot your work permit). We then met a travel agent who said if we pay her 200B she'll hire a speedboat and drop us off on
Merry Christmas!
my favourite GAP partner and I the other side of the island (avoiding the big pier and paying more). So we did it, and it worked- thank god! Ko Samet ended up being my favourite place. It was a nice mix of thais and tourists and the beaches were amazing.
On the 6th we started our journey home and unfortunatly we had to celebrate the beggining of Kims 19th birthday on a bus. We made it back to Phrae, however, with huge smiles on our faces because we were finnally "home" and away from tourist prices and tourists at that. It's sad to realize that most people who come to Thailand only see Chiang Mai, Bangkok and the southern islands because in reality there is so much more than that.
Today i'm starting teaching for the first time in a while, and i can already see mixed reactions from the kids. I have a feeling they thought we had left them. They also think its weird that i've gained lots of weight and i have a tan (which isn't highly looked upon). We'll see how it all goes and keep you all updated!
Love you and Happy New Year,
Emily
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Happy New Year
Looks like you all had a wonderful break- except for the bangkok bombings. Glad you are safe and sound back up north. Happy 19th Kim!!!